[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

Oh yes, I think she really liked the added distance with the rocking horses! You both got to go a lot faster – and you maintained your connection so she knew where to go each time. Super!

Every now and then you would tap your leg – you don’t need to do it, she knew where to be thanks to your connection. Plus, she speedy so you won’t be able to give timely cues and tap your leg ,so better to just focus on timely cues 🙂

She had a couple of questions on the right turn on the barrel – it looks like it was mainly because you needed to take one more step to the wing. You were pulling away just a shade too early, so she was pulled off with you. On the reps where you took the one extra step, she committed beautifully.

Looking at the stay video: she did great! I love that she happily held the stay while you ran away or waved your arms/toy. Super! Be sure to add in connection back to her before you release – you will need that when she is front of a jump, and we don’t want her to think that you looking at her is the release. So you can move away, look at her, praise… then release.

Minny pinny: She read the setup really well! I think was a horse distraction in the background which is why she was barking.
Now that she understands the turns really well, we can get the verbals more independent (you can use a toy also). Was the video image mirrored? It sounded like you were saying left when she was turning right (and vice versa).

To get the verbals more independent, start with her at your side and you are holding her collar. While holding her, you can say the verbal 3 or 4 times -then let her go but you remain perfectly still 🙂 You can keep saying the verbal, but she should zip around the minny pinny without you moving at all. That might be harder so you can throw the reward out between the bars when she does it.

Great job here!!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! His understanding of commitment and lines looks good, and I think your blind cross connection also looked really good! So now we can focus on convincing him to go faster 🙂

One thing I notice is that he cues off of your acceleration or deceleration. For example, looking at :10-:19 there was not a lot of acceleration from you, so he ran in collection. Compare to the same line from :40-:48 where you ran closer to the line of obstacles, so you were showing more extension cue and he ran in extension 🙂 Yay!

You can also see more acceleration from you equaling more extension from him at :20- :25, then :28-:30, for example.

So keep planning on running closer to the lines so he sees lots of acceleration cues 🙂

>Then I thought what if instead of stopping to throw the toy after tunnels if I ran with it flyball style then threw it. He liked that. And then I did one with a reward in the middle>

Yes! Getting the rewards moving totally helps, he likes that a lot! Try to mix it in over jumps a lot more frequently – that way he will really drive to the jumps because a toy can be thrown at any moment 🙂

One thing you can add is throw the toy and then race him to it – if you get there first, you win and tease him but don’t give it to him. It is the grown up version of toy races 🙂 and will really get him driving along the lines because he will want to win the toy 🙂

>He started out well and I think he just gets tired and hot from the ball throws.>

There is a lot of explosiveness when throwing the toy, so he might need longer breaks between runs. But it will be well worth it! And as he builds up his heat acclimation, you will be able to extend the working time.

Great job here!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

OMG! He did so well here! He was 100% with finding the jump! Only 1 little blooper where he did not take the tunnel because you took off too early. But then he was perfect!

When he did the sit at 1:01 – it might have been because you were leaning towards him and not moving to the wing, so he was unsure and offered a sit. When you were moving, he did great!

Nice work here 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! You did a great job with your arms! The connection was really clear on both videos here!

On the first session and part of the 2nd session – yes, it took a moment to convince your feet to turn away for the blind instead of towards him for the FC or spin 🙂 it definitely feels unnatural in this context but will feel easier to turn away for the normal blind when you are more used to it and don’t have to think about it as much.

But then at 1:52 and after it on video 2: nice blinds! You were definitely getting into the groove and had really nice blinds! And the connection was super strong on those too. So it is mainly a question of convincing yourself to turn away from him. He also did well with the race track – it was a little harder to the left but I think that might have been because he was expecting a turn on the first wing? But the 2nd one went really well 🙂

Great job!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>He needed to poop! haha. All of a sudden he was much less distracted after that.>

Haha yes, that makes sense!

>> even though it might have been accidental
It completely was. I’d forgotten about it until it fell out of my waistband bahaha. I took that as serendipity telling me to reward my dog.>

It was the agility gods rewarding him for you LOL 😂 😝

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
I am glad you liked the sandwich concept 🙂 I am food-motivated so I like food analogies 😂

Lots of good work here! He was able to go out to the mat but also had a lot of really good reps of going straight when you want him too! Yay!

>However, Tribute would occasionally spin (similar to what he does when working on the rear cross). I wonder if the timing of my treat toss / movement is causing it.>

For the out, it is not really a RC – it is more of a shift away as you move straight up the line. So the RC element was a little late which is why he sometimes had a question.

When you do the out, if he is on your right, use your left arm – and you are going to keep moving straight up the line. He will shift away to his the mat or go to the wings, then continue forward on a line parallel to where he started.

I drew a sketch of what the lines would look like for that! It is not fancy but it might give a clearer visual 🙂

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1yD2gC5uBxpjkAs6gJW3RJXVvHv0543xDacvNws0r4mQ/edit?usp=sharing

Let me know what you think! Nice work here!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

The forced fronts are looking good! You have taught her a lovely stay and that makes this much easier 🙂
Your position on the jump was more of the forced threadle (where your belly button was facing the wing more than your behind was) but that is actually fine – we use more of the forced threadles nowadays anyway 🙂 You can switch to the full threadle with your in in cue and using the outside arm

On the 2nd side, the line was harder – be sure to set her up on a pretty severe slice over 1 so she goes directly to the hand cue. You did more of that on the last rep and it really helped her!

Speaking of the stay – be sure to put your hand in position and *not* release at the same time. We don’t want her thinking that the hand cue is the release. So you can put your hand in position, praise, then release. She might break the first time or two because she is used to the hand cue and the release happening mostly together, so you can have a laugh, reset her, then reward her for not breaking with you move your hand into position.

Decel video: you got to the decel jump with great timing at the beginning so she had a great turn 🙂 And when you did it on the other side, she also had a great turn – it is VERY nice to see how well she is turning in both directions!

The sends went really well too! I think you were quietly saying your wrap verbals? If so – yay! If not, you can add them, she is ready.

Great job!!!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! These games are looking lovely!

Forced fronts:
Hooray for a great stay – that made this session so much easier. My only suggestion is to remind her to stay as you slowly put your hand in position – then release. The releases were all coming as you moved your hand, which means she will start to think the release is your hand movement.

Overall, the session went GREAT! The first side was pretty perfect 🙂 She had a question at 1:48 when you switched sides: she was set up on an angle facing the front of the jump and had to make a severe turn to get to the backside – she didn’t really see the hand cue, she mainly saw the bar. Lining her up on a lice at jump 1 so she is facing the line to your hand will make a big difference. But everything else was terrific!

Decel video:
The first rep of this game always cracks me up – she was definitely not decelerating LOL!! But then the 2nd rep turn was VERY different and she was great. She also did a great job on the other side with a distraction jump out ahead – I think she figured out very quickly that when Da Momma slows down, she needs to turn. You can see that when you added motion too: great job getting to the decel position with perfect timing. She also did well after you did a Go rep!

The sends went really well too (click/treat to Donna for reminding you to not use your go verbal :))

On the sends where she went to the jump, you held you send position until she was taking off. When she was a less sure and didn’t take the jump, it was because you stepped back a fraction too early. No worries, she will commit better with more experience so for now, keep your arm and leg pointing forward until she takes off for the jump on the send.

Decel video 2:
First 2 reps were a little wide but you were late getting there. When you sent to the tunnel and got to the wrap jump sooner: perfect! That was at :35 approx – you got there sooner by trusting that she would take the jump after the tunnel based on your motion. Super!

Gorgeous sends here too! You held your commitment cue a bit longer, plus she is figuring it out really well. Yo can use your collection verbal but resist temptation to say ‘go’.

Great job on these!!!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! Lots of good work here!

Reverse retrieve:

Working this in an hallway was perfect – it limited his option for running off with the toy while allow you to build in a lot of reinforcement and fun! Super! And when you are ready to the game to bigger locations, you can put the first toy on a long line so he can’t go off to far with it 🙂

Minny pinny:
He is relying on handlign a bit here, so ideally we can get him to do it without you moving. The way to do that is to move all of the wings together so they are touching in the middle. That way the distances are shorter and he can bounce without you moving as much (or moving at all :)) Then you can send him around it with you in the middle: if he is uncertain, you can throw rewards after every jump to get him started, then after every 2 jumps. That will get him zipping around in without needing as much help, which will hen make it easier to add the verbals.

Rocking horses:
He is doing great with the bigger distances! Super!!! And you were being patient and clear with the connection, and that made a big difference. If he is going to go really fast, then you don’ need to be fast, you just need to be clear. That is exactly what happened here and it was very successful!

Turning away: He did a great job coming to the threadle side – it was harder for him to turn away to his right at first. You were again super patience and clear which really helped. To get him to turn away without first turning towards you, you can put and empty food bowl as a visual target out on the other side of the barrel: when he comes to the threadle hand you can turn him to the bowl and then toss the food in or near it. I think that will help him get the turn away even more smoothly.

Remote reinforcement:

He was very excited to work but also getting very bitey, which means he was a bit overaroused by the setup. So rather than ask for any work like sits or arounds on the cone, you can simplify it to get ride of the bitey behavior: just walk away one step and if he moves with you, use your marker and run back to the treats. Then if he can easily do one step without getting bitey, add two steps. Don’t add anything harder until he can do it without grabbing at hands or clothing – that is his way of saying it was too hard.

O n the last video – I am not sure he knew there was a treat there until about 1:50 but then he did well ignoring it as long as you moved away from it quickly. I think he does like the toy better so you can use a toy reward in these sessions as well, so he gets a great reinforcement for ignoring the food. And eventually he can transfer that to ignoring the toy on the ground 🙂

Great job here!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>We did another round of the Shpile game and I wilded him up with a toy and he was much wilder jumping around the pile. I could see him working to control his body when it felt out of control. I messed up the video though>

Bummer about the video but great that you could see him working on controlling his balance and movement! We definitely want to see that.

He was definitely getting the idea of the tight turns around the upright! There were one or two questions early on for the right turns but he sorted that out really quickly – having your hand move slowly really helped him. The left turns were more challenging for him, so keeping your hand low and slow will help get those nice and smooth too. He will probably sleep on it and “know” the left turns perfectly for the next session.

The backside session went great! He found that line every time, no probably (and I am glad Frainke and Bazinga got to play too, even if their verbal was different LOL!!)

He seemed to be waiting for the cookie to drop before coming over the bar when you were not backing up as much or dropping it as early. So when you revisit this, you don’t need to back up (you can add in moving parallel to the bump like it is a serpentine) then throw the cookie back behind you. Use a big exaggerated hand gesture to do this for a few reps (pointing at the landing spot then throwing the treat). After a couple of reps of that, you can use the hand gesture to point at the landing spot, but change the timing of the treat throw: throw it after he goes over the bump. That should help him keep moving.

The threadle wrap game is off to a great start! He picked up the concept of coming to the threadle side really quickly. He had to sort out finishing the wrap in both directions – I think part of it is he had to look up at your hands so you can try to keep your hands as low as possible (without making your back angry from too much bending over) and see if that makes it easier for him to turn his head away. He was getting the idea for sure, so it might not even be needed the next time you do it – he is a strong latent learner!

Great job on these!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

He did well going back and forth over the mat, he definitely loves it! And was finding the wings really well too – yay!

Going between the wings after the mat added a post turn element, where he continues on the same lead and turns toward you. For the ‘get out’ element where he moves away, the wings would be on the other side of the set up:
The mat would be in the center, and he would be on your left side for example. And the wings would be also on your left side, on the other side of the mat. It is kind of a mat sandwich: you and the wings are the bread, and the mat is in the middle 🙂

So he either goes straight over the mat and continues straight – or if you cue the ‘get out’ he goes straight over the mat and then moves away from you to the wings.

Using the set up on the video – in the first part, you had the mat on your left side. In this setup, the ‘get out’ wings would be on the side where the weaves are (like at :42). That way he would turn slightly left to get to them – for the wings here, he turns right to get to them. Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! I agree, this went well!

>here were a couple places where I persisted or re-tried the movement – in the moment. I feel like it’s probably better to continue, reward the dog, and try again >

Yes, I agree here too – keeping things in flow was where you were able to put together the smoothest lines.

His stay is going really well and that makes a big difference! Good job rewarding it on the 1st video as you showed him a new position – things really locked in with the stay on the 2nd video and you got some really long lead outs! Yay!

The forced front crosses on the first video went really well! He did a good job figuring out this new weird cue 🙂 I think there was only one spot he had a question (the throwback) – on the throw back,you can keep your feet rotated to the next line and think of the upper body as doing a backwards send so he commits without you needing to turn towards the jump.

The other thing that will help on both the first video and as you added th sequence in the 2nd video: you can have the toy hidden 🙂 Switching it from hand to hand was drawing his focus to your hands and off the jump, and it was delaying the cues a little. When you used food towards the end of the 2nd video, it was all a lot smoother 🙂

>Question on cues – in the second video, at 0:38 – is there a more specific verbal cue you use to have the dog take the red jump?>

I think you used ‘over’ and that was correct! You can turn your shoulders towards the tunnel entry sooner to get him to take the jump. You did an earlier shoulder turn at 1:17 and he had no questions! Yay! That was part of a bunch of really smooth reps in both directions.

You ended with the blinds on the 1-2-3 line. For the BC at 2:01 – after the blind, he needed to see more connection from your eyes and less arm on the new side.
Compare to the BC on the last rep – really nice long lead out and clear connection! He nailed it.

Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Overall this is looking really good – your connection on the exit of the blinds is really strong, so he is getting clear info on where to go. Yay!

And because of the clear connection, you are consistently getting a good turn on 4! His only question on that line was at 1:06 where you were probably just too far ahead and he was a little gassed out.

The BC (1:27) and the FC (1:48) between the jumps at the end also both looked good – it is hard to tell which is the better choice because he is not driving as har as he can yet (more on that below).

His main question was on the commitment to 5 as you were decelerating (like at :11 and later in the session too).Having more motion on your line into it helped but you can also convince him to commit better by throwing the reward: if he takes the jump, fling the reward as far as you can for him to get – he seems to love that 🙂

Dropping the reward or handing it too him seem nice and all, but he really lights up when he gets to run run run for the reward – so you can totally do that on tight turns as well. No worries about him starting to turn wide – he is a nice turning dog so I am sure he will still respond to your turn cues.

>he next course tomorrow after IGP training and then run it closer to dark. But if you think we should stay here and practice more then that is totally fine too. Or if I should break these down and reward in the middle somewhere.>

You can totally go to the next course (week 3 part 2 :)) No need for the week 4 stuff yet (crazy backside stuff) because you can use the week 3 courses to randomize that thrown reward on the line. That will bring a massive surprise factor to the courses and will get more speed 🙂 So you can run closer to the lines (which will make you scramble a bit, which cues acceleration) then randomly fling the reward for him to get. It can be on an easy line, after a blind, on a turn… mix it up so it gets really fun for him to keep driving hard with the hopes that the toy can be flung at any possible moment. And don’t reward from your hand – be sure to throw it far so he can run run run to get it.

Fingers crossed for nice cool weather ahead! Nice job here!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

This looked great! Yay!

The verbals 2-3 helped and the line looked really good – that allowed you to easily get the blind 3-4, not questions and a lovely turn!

And the sends to the backside jumps looked good, especially at :18 – that allowed you to get outta there for the all-important blind before the tunnel. He could clearly see the new connection and line before he took for there and never considered the off course tunnel. SUPER!!!!

Well done 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hello!

>I thought it is better to ask for your advice instead of torture my dogs further with my bad handling.>

I thought this was overall a good training session on very challenging handling. You were NOT bad! In fact, you were very connected and really supported them with lots of rewards. The skills here were harder and they had to think about it a lot, but they got lots of rewards so I know they were happy 🙂

Sequence 1, push to backside for the German turn. Do you call in a German turn, in Germany?

Sammy had a few questions and needed a little more support to find the line to the backside. You were running towards the exit wing but you can switch that for now and run to the center of the bar for the backside on 4 at :10 & :22 & :35. That will help get smoother commitment to the backside.

For Jazz – he also had a question on the backside about taking the jump after getting to the backside, like at :48 (good reward there!) He seemed to find the backside line more easily but is not sure about jumping the bar as you move forward. Pointing to the landing spot and looking at it as you point will really help as you keep moving through the line there.

Blind to threadle – both dogs knew it was the backside and not the front side on 4, and that means the blind cross was clear. Excellent! What they had questions about was whether the exit was a threadle wrap or a threadle slice.

They thought it might have been a threadle wrap because your feet were facing forward (which is part of the wrap cue).

Compare 1:25 where Sammy thought it was a wrap versus 2:20 where Jazz knew it was a slice – at 2:20, you had really strong motion to the center of the bar on the threadle side of the jump, so it was very clear.

If you want the threadle wrap, you can add deceleration and keeping your feet facing forward like at 1:25, until he starts to wrap back towards you.

For the threadle slice, continuing your motion across the bar (like at 2:20) will really help them know for sure it is a slice.

Sammy knew it was not the front of the jump at 1:25 but he (and I) thought it was a threadle wrap better at 1:38
A

2nd sequence:
We see here too that Sammy needs more support to the backside line but not as much support to take the jump after getting to the backside, so you can keep moving through at 2:30 and 2:43 and 2:55 to be able to show the new connection after the blind sooner.

He was finding the backside really well here because you were not as far across the bar and running a connected, parallel line to the backside line. As he gets more experienced, you will easily be able to be further away.

Jazz did well with more speed when you added the tunnel – he was thinking hard and slowing down for a rep or 2 (the backside lines are hard!) but then came back to good speed after a couple of fun rewards. He also really liked it when you dropped the reward on the landing side of the jump after the backside – it seemed to really help him understand.

So overall, I think this was a really good training session! The backsides/threadles are hard. Don’t worry about the soft turns – they were a little wide but the focus on the training was the backside pushes and threadles. The soft turns will be easy when the boys don’t have to think about the harder stuff as much 🙂

Great job!!

Tracy

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